V 


THE  HAND  OF  GOD  IN  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 


SERMON 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


& 


Fccutibc  ant) 


qjartmi 


OF  THE 


(lOVEIUXMENT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 


AT  THE 


ANNUAL  ELECTION, 


Wednesday,  January'  5,  1870. 


By  Key.  S.  W.  FOLJAMBE. 


BOSTON : 

WRIGHT  &  POTTER,  STATE  PRINTERS, 
70  Milk  Street  (corner  of  Federal). 

1876. 


I 


THE  HAND  OF  GOD  IN  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 


A 


SERMON 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


jccutibe 


OF  THE 


GOVERNMENT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 


AT  THE 


ANNUAL  ELECTION, 


Wednesday,  January  5,  1876. 


By  Rev.  S.  W.  FOLJAMBE. 


BOSTON : 

WRIGHT  &  POTTER,  STATE  PRINTERS, 
79  Milk  Street  (corner  of  Federal). 


1876. 


A 

F7/ 1 F 


dommontoealtjj  of  ULssacJmsetts. 


House  of  Representatives,  February  2,  1876.  . 

Ordered,  That  a  committee  of  three  he  appointed  to  present  the  thanks 
of  the  House  to  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Foljambe,  of  Malden,  for  his  able  and 
eloquent  discourse  before  the  executive  and  legislative  branches  of  the 
government  on  January  5th,  and  to  request  a  copy  for  publication. 

GEO.  A.  HARDEN,  Clerk . 

Messrs.  Foque  of  Malden,  Rice  of  Danvers,  and  Pope  of  Somerville, 
were  appointed. 


Malden,  February  29,  1876. 

Gentlemen  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  communication  to 
me  of  the  wishes  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  a  copy  of  the 
sermon  Avhich  it  was  my  privilege  recently  to  deliver  before  the  govern¬ 
ment  of  the  Commonwealth,  be  given  to  the  press.  Having  taken  time 
to  make  the  manuscript  legible  to  the  printer,  it  now  gives  me  pleasure 
to  comply  with  the  request. 

You  will  please  accept  my  cordial  acknowledgment  of  the  courtesy 
with  which  the  vote  of  your  honorable  body  has  been  expressed  to  me, 
and  believe  me,  with  sentiments  of  high  regard, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

SAMUEL  W.  FOLJAMBE. 

Messrs.  T.  N.  Foque,  C.  B.  Rice,  and  C.  G.  Pope. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/handofgodinameriOOfolj 


Commonfoealtlj  of  Utassactmsctfs. 


House  oe  Representatives,  March  2,  1876. 

Ordered,  That  one  thousand  copies  of  the  sermon  preached  by  the  Rev. 
S.  W.  Fouambe  be  printed  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  on 
Printing,  for  the  use  of  the  executive  and  legislative  branches  of  the 
government. 


*  House  oe  Representatives,  March  2,  1876. 

Adopted  under  suspension  of  the  rule  requiring  reference  to  Com¬ 
mittee  on  Printing. 

Sent  up  for  concurrence  in  suspension  of  the  rule. 

GEO.  A.  MARDEN,  Clerk. 


Senate,  March  7,  1876. 


Concurred. 


S.  N.  GIFFORD,  Clerk. 


SERMON. 


“Tiie  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with  our  fathers:  let  him 
not  leave  us,  nor  forsake  us.”  1  Kings  viii.  57. 

When  St.  Paul  stood  before  that  famous  court, 
of  which  the  poets  and  orators  of  Greece  tell 
such  proud  things,  he  proclaimed  to  them  the 
God  they  knew  not,  filling  up  the  inscription  to 

r 

the  unknown  God  with  the  name  of  Jehovah. 
He  tells  them  more  of  God  in  a  few  minutes, 
than  Plato  had  done  in  all  his  life.  He  brings 
the  matter  closely  home  to  them,  and  makes  them 
feel  as  if  in  contact  with  God;  not  with  an  ideal 
merely,  but  with  a  living,  personal  Being,  whose 
providence  is  directed  at  once  to  the  individual 
interests  of  men,  and  the  highest  interests  of 
nations.  "  Seeing  he  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath, 
and  all  things  :  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  before 
appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation ; 
that  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they 


8 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 


might  feel  after  him,  and  find  him.”  Such  is  the 
divine  basis  of  that  institution  which  we  call  the 
State,  and  such  the  ultimate  religious  end  of  its 
existence.  Hot  in  force,  nor  in  any  mutual  com¬ 
pact,  nor  yet  in  the  family,  does  the  State  have 
its  origin.  The  family  and  the  State  may  seem 
to  be  more  intimately  related,  but  they  are  in 
fact  totally  distinct  from  each  other.  The  State 
cannot  he  the  natural  product  of  the  family,  for 
it  is  animated  by  another  kind  of  spirit.  The 
family  is  the  sphere  of  alfection  and  custom, 
the  State  is  the  sphere  of  justice ;  the  family  is 
the  product  of  nature,  the  State  is  not  simply  the 
product  of  nature,  but  is  evolved  under  the  action 
and  control  of  Providence,  and  the  tendency  of 
its  history,  both  as  to  its  limitations  and  powers, 
is  to  lead  it  to  God,  who  exercises  that  provi¬ 
dence,  and  is  the  source  of  that  spirit  of  justice 
which  is  its  root  and  life. 

The  more  thoroughly  a  nation  deals  with  its 
history,  the  more  decidedly  will  it  recognize  and 
own  an  overruling  Providence  therein,  and  the 
more  religious  a  nation  will  it  become;  while  the 
more  superficially  it  deals  with  its  history,  seeing 
only  secondary  causes  and  human  agencies,  the 
more  irreligious  will  it  be.  If  the  history  of  any 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


9 


nation  is  the  development  of  the  latent  possibili¬ 
ties  existing  in  its  special  nature,  it  is  also  the 
record  of  a  Divine  Providence  furnishing  place 
and  scope  for  that  development,  creating  its  op¬ 
portunities,  and  guiding  its  progress.  History  is 
not  a  string  of  striking  episodes,  with  no  other 
connection  but  that  of  time.  It  is  rather  the 
working  out  of  a  mighty  system,  by  means  of 
regularly  defined  principles  as  old  as  creation, 
and  as  infallible  as  divine  wisdom.  With  this 
truth  in  view,  we  approach  our  chosen  theme, — 

The  Hand  oe  God  in  American  History. 

Not  inappropriate  do  we  deem  it,  that  we 
trace  along  the  line  of  our  history  how  God 
was  with  our  fathers,  and  recall  and  reaffirm  in 
this  presence  the  truth  of  our  increasing  depend¬ 
ence  upon  him  for  the  continued  prosperity  of 
our  country  and  people. 

1.  Observe  the  hand  of  God  in  the  wise  and 

beneficent  timing  of  events  in  the  dawn  of  our 

history.  The  events  of  history  are  not  accidents. 

There  are  no  accidents  in  the  lives  of  men  or  of 

nations.  We  may  go  hack  to  the  underlying 

cause  of  every  event,  and  discover  in  each  God’s 

overruling  and  intervening  wisdom.  It  has  been 

2 


10 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


said  that  history  is  the  biography  of  communities; 
in  another,  and  profounder,  sense,  it  is  the  auto¬ 
biography  of  him  "  who  worketh  all  tilings  after 
the  counsel  of  his  own  will,”  and  who  is  gra¬ 
ciously  timing  all  events  in  the  interests  of  his 
Christ,  and  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 
Tracing  the  history  of  men,  we  find  the  most 
trivial  and  seemingly  fortuitous  things  issuing 
beyond  all  human  expectation  or  intention  in 
the  sublimest  events ;  we  see  men  planning  and 
working  with  only  their  own  more  immediate  and 
material  interests  in  view,  and  yet  a  power  be¬ 
hind  them  is  noiselessly  and  effectually,  though 
possibly  for  generations  unobserved,  overruling 
their  action  to  the  furtherance  of  higher,  more 
widely  extended,  and  more  permanent  purposes. 
Human  freedom  and  human  responsibility  in 
bringing  about  either  good  or  evil,  are  not  to  be 
pushed  aside;  providence  is  not  fatalism;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  man’s  free  activities  do  not  prove 
the  despotism  of  a  blind  chance,  shifting  as  man’s 
caprice  may  dictate.  Neither  social  order,  moral 
progress,  nor  a  Christian  civilization,  can  spring 
out  of  clfance.  These  demand  a  prevision  and 
adjustment  of  causes  keener  and  mightier  than 
man  with  his  wisest  forethought  and  highest 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History.  11 

intelligence  can  exercise.  There  are  influences 
which  man  can  wield,  and  should  control,  aright; 
there  are  others  which  God  alone  originates  and 
shapes.  There  are,  again,  other  influences  which 
are  under  human  management,  but  which  become 
mighty  for  good  only  by  their  timing ;  and  this 
timing  is  sometimes  a  visible,  but  more  frequently 
an  invisible,  interposition  of  God’s  overruling 
care,  only  truly  seen  after  many  generations  have 
passed  away.  God’s  hand  is  seen  in  the  starting, 
speeding,  retarding,  and  matching  such  coincident 
and  colliding  influences  as  mark  the  progress  and 
constitute  the  varied  crises  of  history. 

The  discovery  and  preparation  of  this  country 
to  be  the  home  of  a  great  people, — the  theatre 
of  a  new  experiment  in  government,  and  the 
scene  of  an  advancing  Christian  civilization, — is 
illustrative  of  this  truth.  Whatever  may  have 
been  its  prehistoric  condition,  for  centuries  it  was 
concealed  behind  the  mighty  veil  of  waters  fi'om 
the  eyes  of  the  world.  Not  until  the  early  part 
of  the  tenth  century  was  it  discovered  by  the 
Scandinavians,  and  only  then  to  be  hidden  away 
again  till  the  time  should  be  ripe  for  its  settle¬ 
ment,  by  a  people  providentially  prepared  for  its 
occupancy.  What  a  land  it  was,  so  magnificent 


12 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


in  extent,  so  varied  in  soil  and  climate,  so  un¬ 
limited  in  mineral  wealth  and  vegetable  bounties; 
while  its  conformation  was  such  as  to  preclude 
its  occupants  from  ever  being  other  than  an 
united  people.  Harbors,  and  rivers,  and  mountain 
ranges  link  as  with  iron  bands  the  far  separated 
localities.  Yet  all  this  thorough  preparation  by 
which  this  continent  had  been  builded  and  fur¬ 
nished,  was  not  available  until  God’s  hour  had 
come  for  its  occupancy. 

Nor  was  this  period  reached  without  the  con¬ 
currence  of  great  moral  and  social  events  affect¬ 
ing  the  whole  progress  of  society.  The  invention 
of  movable  type  at  Iiaarlem  or  Mentz,  half  a 
century  before  the  discovery  of  America, — and 
only  a  few  years  previous  to  that  invention,  the 
manufacture  of  paper  from  linen  rags,  a  most 
indispensable  help  to  the  development  of  the 
press, — had  made  books  available  to  many,  where 
manuscripts  had  been  available  to  few.  A  few 
years  later  still  came  the  capture  of  Constanti¬ 
nople  by  the  Turks,  which  scattered  the'  learning 
of  the  Greeks  among  the  nations  of  the  West. 
By  these  conspiring  influences,  knowledge  became 
distributed,  and  a  spirit  of  inquiry  was  every¬ 
where  awakened,  broader  and  freer  than  was  ever 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


13 


known  before.  Then  occurred  the  rediscovery 
of  this  continent,  expanding  the  globe  to  the 
minds  of  the  Old  World,  and  stimulating  a  new 
spirit  of  enterprise  and  activity. 

But  neither  the  wonderful  art  of  printing,  nor 
the  discovery  of  this  transatlantic  continent,  had 
aroused  with  such  mighty  energy  the  mind  of 
Christendom,  as  did  the  discovery  of  a  new  world 
in  theology  by  Luther,  aiid  the  sudden  reforma¬ 
tion  in  religion  which  sprung  up  in  Germany, 
and  swiftly  extended  through  Northern  Europe. 
To  an  unreflecting  mind,  it  would  appear  that  the 
questions  raised  in  this  religious  movement  were 
purely  theological,  having  no  interest  outside  the 
Church.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  If  a  man  has 
the  right  to  seek  truth  freely,  he  has  the  right 
to  declare  and  communicate  this  truth  ;  he  has 
the  right  to  associate  himself  with  those  who 
think  as  he  does,  and  to  assist  them,  and  relieve 
their  wants.  A  free  Church,  free  education,  free 
association,  the  right  to  speak  and  to  write, — these 
are  the  consequences  of  the  liberty  of  conscience 
proclaimed  by  the  Reformers.  Without  knowing 
it,  without  desiring  it,  they  brought  about  a  rev¬ 
olution.  The  Reformation  was  the  cause  of  a 
great  forward  movement  in  human  affairs.  It 


14  The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 

awakened  the  intellect  of  mankind.  Science, 
literature,  invention,  social  life,  political  reform, — 
all  were  stimulated  by  it.  These  two  events, 
therefore,  the  most  important  in  modern  times, 
are  intimately  connected  in  '  their  hearing  on 
American  history.  God  timed  the  physical  and 
the  spiritual  discovery  to  each  other.  The  new 
life  evoked  would  need  a  new  and  ampler  held 
for  its  unhindered  development.  When  he  had 
created  a  stalwart  race,  and  ordained  them  for 
the  settlement  of  this  country,  and  for  laying 
the  foundations  of  a  higher  civilization  than  the 
world  had  yet  seen,  and  when  they  had  started 
on  their  mission  of  light,  and  freedom,  and  re¬ 
ligion,  then  he  suddenly  dropped  the  veil  from 
this  continent,  and  there  arose  before  the  aston¬ 
ished  vision  of  the  nations  the  splendors  of  the 
Western  World. 

Take,  again,  the  century  embracing  the  settle¬ 
ment  of  this  country,  and  we  discover  the  provi¬ 
dential  timing  of  influences  shaping  our  national 
life  and  character.  That  century  was  a  remark¬ 
able  era,  a  period  of  wondrous  activity  and  mar¬ 
vellous  achievement,  of  strenuous  struggles  and 
lofty  heroisms,  of  transcendent  genius  and  bold 
enterprise.  The  roots  of  our  national  existence 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History.  15 

strike  down  into  no  arid  wastes  of  intellectual  or 
political  life.  It  was  in  a  time  when  liberal 
thought  was  beginning  to  assert  itself,  when 
education  was  extending  its  influence,  and  when 
the  mind,  especially  of  Northern  Europe,  was 
full  of  intense  stimulation.  It  was  a  period  of 
abounding  material  enterprise,  when  inventions 
followed  each  other  almost  as  rapidly,  and  with 
the  same  startling  novelty,  as  in  our  own  times. 
The  telescope  and  the  compound  microscope, — 
the  one  opening  up  the  boundlessness  of  God’s 
empire,  and  the  other  revealing  the  delicate 
organism,  the  marvellous  beauty,  the  infinite  skill 
and  care  manifest  in  the  minutest  forms  of  creat¬ 
ure  life, — were  the  inventions  of  this  age.  Besides 
these,  we  have  the  mariner’s  compass,  so  improved 
as  to  become  almost  a  new  invention,  the  air- 
pump,  the  barometer,  the  thermometer ;  while 
among  its  discoveries  were  those  of  the  circula¬ 
tion  of  the  blood  and  the  nature  and  use  of 
electricity.  It  was  the  era  of  extended  research 
and  discovery.  Its  navigators  and  explorers 
traversed  the  globe  in  every  meridian. 

It  was,  moreover,  a  period  of  copious  learning 
and  of  distinguished  genius,  both  in  literature 
and  art,  of  discursive  philosophy,  profound  piety, 


16 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


and  a  sagacious  statesmanship.  Science  was 
represented  by  Galileo,  Tycho  Brahe,  and  Kep¬ 
ler  ;  art  by  Rubens,  Vandyke,  and  Rembrandt ; 
literature  by  Tasso,  Cervantes,  Moliere,  Racine, 
Edmund  Spenser,  Ben  Jonson,  and  Beaumont ; 
philosophy  by  Francis  Bacon,  John  Selden,  Philip 
Sidney,  and  Descartes ;  and  theology  by  Isaac 
Casaubon,  the  immortal  Hooker,  and  Blaise  Pascal. 
It  was  in  this  century  that  Shakespeare,  the 
myriad-minded  man,  the  greatest  intellect  who 
in  our  recorded  world  has  left  record  of  himself 
in  literature,  the  poet  of  the  human  race,  lived 
and  wrote.  It  was  now  the  strain  of  Milton’s 
song  was  heard.  Great  men  like  these  are  both 
the  ripe  fruit  and  the  creators  of  their  times. 
The  times  could  not  be  without  them,  nor  are 
they  independent  of  them.  They  are  God's  gift 
to  the  world,  and  in  their  thought  and  work  in¬ 
dicate  the  world’s  progress,  and  are  its  means 
and  helpers. 

It  was,  further,  a  century  of  startling  incident 
and  wonderful  vicissitude,  both  in  the  ecclesias¬ 
tical  and  political  world.  AVe  are  apt  to  suppose 
that  progress  and  innovation  are  so  peculiarly 
the  features  of  these  latter  times,  that  it  is  only 
in  them  that  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  length 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


17 


of  life  has  witnessed  any  remarkable  change. 
But  the  period  we  are  now  considering  is  quite  as 
varied  in  the  changes  presented  as  any  other  age 
of  the  world.  It  included  the  magnificent  reign 
of  Elizabeth,  the  great  English  rebellion,  the  ten 
years  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  restoration 
of  the  crown.  It  saw  the  forty  years’  reign  of 
Philip  II.,  the  amazing  revolt  of  the  Netherlands, 

t 

and  the  final  establishment  of  a  Protestant  repub¬ 
lic.  It  witnessed  the  struggles  of  the  Huguenots 
in  France,  including  the  horrors  of  St.  Bartholo¬ 
mew’s,  and  saAV  the  establishment  of  the  inquisition 
in  Holland,  persecutions  by  which  Pome  lost 
more  than  Protestants.  It  included  in  its  won¬ 
derful  annals  the  Thirty  Years’  War,  with  the 
sorrow  and  sacrifice  it  involved,  and  the  remark¬ 
able  energy  and  heroism  it  developed. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  some  of  the  leading  features 
of  the  remarkable  century  out  of  which  the 
earlier  settlers  of  this  continent  came.  These 
men  could  not  fail  to  feel  the  influence  of  the 
times  which,  in  the  expressive  language  of  the 
Old  Testament,  were  going  over  them.  While 
these  times  were  partly  of  the  earth,  they  were 
in  very  much  of  their  bearing  above  the  earth. 
In  them  God  was  evoking  and  guiding  energies, 


3 


18 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


awakening’  and  developing  moral  forces,  and 
working  ont  results,  which  were  to  affect  the 
whole  race.  They  were  the  dawn  of  a  new  era, 
the  beginning  of  a  new  life;  and  the  men  whom 
they  produced  brought  with  them  to  this  new 
world  the  indomitable  energy,  the  restless  activity, 
the  independent  thought,  and  the  power  of  achieve¬ 
ment  which  so  distinctly  characterized  the  new 
era.  They  were  plain,  unassuming  men,  bringing 
with  them  little  wealth,  and  unattended  by  the 
pomp  of  circumstance.  They  attracted  little 
attention  at  the  time.  Indeed,  they  were  guided 
by  him,  whose  promise  was  that  he  would  lead 
the  blind  by  a  way  they  know  not.  They  saw 
not  the  vastness  of  the  foundations  they  were 
laying.  The  founders  of  this  country  were  truly 
great  in  their  unconsciousness.  But  taking  hold 
of  the  work  immediately  at  hand,  they  proved 
themselves  to  be  men  knowing  the  times,  and 
God  was  with  them.  Such  being  the  providential 
springs  of  our  national  existence,  observe — 

2.  The  hand  of  God  in  the  development  of 
our  national  life.  Xeitlier  nations,  governments, 
nor  yet  religion  itself,  are  sudden  creations.  All 
governments  are  experimental.  They  are  growths. 
God  simply  gives  us  the  seeds  of  things,  and 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


19 


then,  under  the  action  of  his  truth  and  spirit,  and 
the  leadings  of  his  providence,  we  are  to  see  to 
their  planting  and  growth.  The  Reformation, 
with  the  social  impulse  to  which  it  had  given 
birth,  was  destined  to  advance  a  second  step, 
appearing  in  a  purer  form,  but  on  a  different 
soil.  To  escape  from  religious  intolerance,  a 
body  of  English  dissenters,  contemptuously  called 
Puritans,  were  seen  flying,  first  to  Holland,  then 
to  these  American  shores.  Thus  exiled  and 
escaping,  God  watched  and  guided  their  flight. 
Through  these  men  he  intended  to  realize,  in 
the  form  of  permanent  institutions,  the  ideas  of 
religion  and  government  which  the  majority  of 
mankind  but  imperfectly  understood,  which  they 
were  poorly  prepared  to  appreciate,  and  were  little 
disposed  to  promote,  but  which,  being  essential 
to  the  best  interests  of  mankind,  were  wrapt  up 
in  the  divine  purpose. 

In  the  men  selected  for  this  work,  we  find,  as 
aforetime,  that  "  not  many  wise  men  after  the 
flesh,  not  many  noble,  not  many  mighty  are 
called.”  God  works  by  the  lowliest  agencies,  in 
accomplishing  his  purposes.  The  human  instru¬ 
mentality  is  graciously  adapted  to  its  service, 
but  never  permitted  to  hide  the  hand  that  uses 


20 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


it.  We  are  prone  to  exalt  the  human  instru¬ 
ment,  to  heighten  that  which  is  common,  and  to 
magnify  the  characters  and  deeds  of  men  to 
whom  we  apparently  owe  so  much.  Far  be  it 
from  me,  in  this  hour,  to  detract  from  the  glory 
of  our  ancestry.  But  we  often  make  unfavorable 
and  desponding  contrasts  between  the  men  of 
the  past  and  present  generations,  forgetting  that 
of  these  earlier  public  men,  the  larger  portion 
are  already  forgotten,  with  their  faults,  as  well 
as  their  virtues,  while  those  whose  memories  re¬ 
main  to  us  are  more  or  less  idealized.  Their 
human  side  is  only  indistinctly  seen,  while  their 
genius  and  virtues  are  alone  immortal.  The  men 
who  came  to  these  American  shores,  bringing  the 
inspiration  and  impulse  of  the  new  life  which 
had  appeared  in  Europe,  were  a  plain,  common 
people.  They  were  hard-working,  Bible-reading, 
profoundly  in  earnest,  with  a  deep  sense  of  God 
in  them ;  but  they  were  not  so  colossal,  nor  so 
perfect,  as  our  imagination  so  often  paints  them. 
They  needed  the  schooling  of  the  times  and  of 
Providence,  as  we  all  do,  that  they  might  not 
drop  into  the  old  ruts,  and  perpetuate  the  evils 
of  the  old  religious  and  political  life.  It  is  evi¬ 
dent  that  a  double  purpose  animated  them.  They 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


21 


were  not  unmindful,  in  seeking  this  new  home, 
of  worldly  advantage.  They  were  impelled  by  a 
spirit  of  material  enterprise,  and  were  far  from 
willing  to  settle  down  to  any  idle,  dreamy  exist¬ 
ence.  At  the  same  time,  a  deep  religious  convic¬ 
tion  swayed  their  minds,  and  a  profound  religious 
purpose  shaped  their  lives.  It  was  not  a  love 
of  man,  but  a  love  of  God, — not  a  love  of  coun¬ 
try,  but  a  love  of  Christ,  overmastering  and 
crucifying  all  love  of  country,  a  personal  conse¬ 
cration  to  the  gospel  superior  to  all  philanthropy, 
to  all  patriotism, — that  planted  the  germs  of  our 
national  life  on  Plymouth  Pock  and  Jamestown. 
Governed  and  impelled  by  this  twofold  spirit, 
strong  in  God  and  their  own  heroic  patience, 
they  commenced  their  battle  with  danger  and 
hardship.  Stepping  forth  upon  the  shore,  a  wild 
and  frowning  wilderness  received  them.  Disease 
smote  them,  but  they  fainted  not ;  famine  over¬ 
took  them,  but  they  feasted  on  roots  with  a 
patient  spirit.  They  built  a  house  for  God,  then 
for  themselves.  They  established  education  and 
the  observance  of  a  stern  but  august  morality, 
then  legislated  for  the  smaller  purposes  of  ma¬ 
terial  interests.  Thus  did  they  lay  the  founda¬ 
tions.  Soon  the  villages  began  to  smile.  Churches 


22 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


arose  still  farther  in  the  depths  of  the  wilderness. 
Industry  multiplied  her  hands.  Colleges  were 
founded,  and  the  beginning  of  civil  order  were 
witnessed.  A  decade  of  years  passed, — Salem, 
Charlestown,  Dorchester,  Roxbury,  Watertown, 
Cambridge,  and  Boston  are  settled, — trade  is 
opened  with  the  Mother  Country,  and  the  foun¬ 
dations  of  a  permanent  colony  are  laid.  This 
colonial  period  was  full  of  indomitable  energy, 
of  a  busy  enterprise,  of  advancing  learning,  of 
abounding  religious  and  political  activity.  The 
population  increased  with  a  startling  rapidity. 
Commerce,  says  Mr.  Burke,  extended  itself  ”  out 
of  all  proportion  beyond  the  numbers  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,”  and  already  the  Old  World  began  to  be  fed 
by  the  Xew;  while  the  love  of  freedom  deepened 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  became  the  pre¬ 
dominant  feature  distinguishing  the  whole  body. 
Two  things  impress  us,  as  marking  the  history  of 
this  period. 

(a.)  The  earnest  struggles  of  religious  free¬ 
dom.  It  was  as  yet  only  imperfectly  that  some 
of  the  principles  which  began  to  be  evolved  in 
Luther's  day  had  been  wrought  out.  Much  was 
gained  for  religious  liberty  when  that  Reformer 
broke  with  the  traditional  dogmatism  of  the  Papal 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History.  23 

Church.  Still  more  was  gained  when  the  Puri¬ 
tans  broke  with  the  churchly  authority  which  they 
left  behind  them.  But  there  was  needed  another 
break,  and  it  was  one  with  themselves.  In  the 
early  settlement  of  our  country,  Church  and  State 
were  united  by  law.  The  Church  was  sustained 
by  taxation  and  state  appropriation.  In  the  South¬ 
ern  States,  formal  church  establishments  existed. 
In  all,  there  existed  religious  tests,  excluding  from 
public  office  or  civil  franchise  such  as  did  not 
accept  the  accredited  faith.  While  in  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts  there  was  no  religious  estab¬ 
lishment  as  such, — the  bare  suggestion  of  one  hav¬ 
ing  drawn  forth  an  energetic  protest, — yet  a  forced 
conformity  to,  and  support  of,  the  congregational 
church  system  was  manifestly  the  policy  of  the 
founders.  The  Pilgrims  came  hither  to  enjoy  their 
own  religious  opinions,  hut  with  no  idea  of  estab¬ 
lishing  universal  liberty  of  conscience  and  wor¬ 
ship.  John  Bobinson  repudiated  any  such  right 
as  strongly  as  John  Knox.  He  defended  stoutly 
”  the  power  of  the  civil  magistrate  to  punish  civilly 
religious  actions,  by  compulsion  to  repress  public 
and  notable  idolatry,  as  also  to  provide  that  the 
truth  of  God  in  his  ordinances  be  taught  and  pub¬ 
lished,  and  by  some  penalty  to  provoke  his  subjects 


24 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


universally  unto  hearing,  for  their  instruction  and 
conversion;  yea,  to  inflict  the  same  upon  them,  if, 
after  due  teaching,  they  offered  not  themselves  to 
the  Church."  This  was  not  the  soil,  however,  td 
receive  such  doctrine.  Resistance  soon  sprang  up. 
A  new  advance  was  to  be  made;  but,  like  all  true 
reform,  it  is  to  be  through  persecution  and  trial. 
There  is  to  be  another  break  from  authority  and 
religious  intolerance.  The  leader  in  this  new 
movement  was  forthcoming.  A  man  of  noble 
type,  of  conscientious  firmness,  of  heroic  spirit,  of 
singular  magnanimity,  and,  though  not  without  his 
defects,  a  man  of  remarkable  breadth  and  vigor  of 
moral  and  intellectual  character,  in  many  respects 
entitled  to  stand  as  the  foremost  man  of  his  times. 
The  statement  of  Mr.  Bancroft,  that  .Roger  "Will¬ 
iams  was  the  first  in  modern  Christendom  to  assert, 
in  its  plenitude,  the  doctrine  of  liberty  of  con¬ 
science,  the  equality  of  opinions  before  the  law, 
and  that  in  its  defence  he  was  the  harbinger  of 
Milton,  and  the  precursor  and  superior  of  Jeremy 
Taylor,"  has  been  often  quoted,  and  may  seem 
over-generous,  since  others,  like  Knowles  and 
Penn,  were  engaged  in  a  like  movement.  But 
really,  in  the  order  of  time,  he  preceded  all  others 
in  the  advocacy  and  establishment  of  soul  liberty. 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History.  25 

Rhode  Island,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania  were 
the  first  civil  communities  that  ever  incorporated 
religious  liberty  into  their  original  constitutions, 
since  which  time  the  world  has  been  led  to  admit 
the  wisdom  and  sound  policy  of  such  a  course. 
And  as  the  principle  has  gained  ascendency  over 
the  land,  it  has  been  proven  that  freedom  of  opin¬ 
ion  is  not  inimical  to  religious  growth,  and  that 
a  free  Church  and  a  free  State  are  a  j^eople’s 
grandest  opportunity  for  religious  and  political 
development. 

( I) .)  A  second  feature  of  this  period,  is,  the 
almost  spontaneous  growth  of  representative  gov¬ 
ernments.  Without  any  concerted  action  on  the 
part  of  the  Colonies,  hut,  as  it  were,  by  a  popular 
instinct,  which  lay  at  the  foundation  of  that  con¬ 
stitutional  freedom  which  the  fathers  sought  in 
this  country,  "  a  House  of  Burgesses,”  says  Mr. 
Hutchinson,  K  broke  out  in  Virginia,  in  1620 ;  and 
although  there  was  no  color  for  it  in  the  charter 
of  Massachusetts,  a  House  of  Deputies  appeared 
suddenly  in  1643.”  Various  acts  of  interference 
were  attempted  to  check  this  tendency  to  inde¬ 
pendent  self-government,  but  all  in  vain,  and  only 
to  develop  that  spirit  of  resistance  which  after¬ 
ward  broke  out  in  the  Revolution.  The  attempt  of 


4 


26 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


Charles  I.  to  check  the  progress  of  liberty  in  the 
New  AVorld,  by  demanding  the  surrender  of  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts  and  the  appointment  of 
royal  commissioners  for  the  Colonies,  were  looked 
upon  as  an  invasion  of  popular  rights,  and  pro¬ 
voked  an  earnest  and  successful  resistance.  A\  e 
notice  the  growth  of  this  feeling,  when,  during  the 
second  Charles,  the  towns  and  churches  throughout 
the  country  were  resolved  to  oppose  the  coming 
of  a  royal  governor;  and  Stuyvesant  sent  word 
to  the  Mother  Country  that  the  colony  of  Boston 
remained  constant  to  its  old  maxims  of  a  free  State, 
dependent  upon  none  but  God.  In  1701,  the  Lords 
of  Trade  declared  that  ”  the  independence  that  the 
Colonies  were  thirsting  for  was  notorious."  Four 
years  later,  it  was  announced  in  Parliament  that 
”  the  Colonies  would,  in  process  of  time,  cast  off 
their  allegiance  to  England,  and  set  up  a  govern¬ 
ment  of  their  own.”  Thus  a  permanent  free  State 
was  the  structure,  the  foundations  of  which  they 
were  in  a  measure  unconsciously  laying.  Says 
Machiavelli,  "  It  must  be  laid  down  as  a  general 
rule,  that  it  very  seldom,  or  never,  happens  that 
any  government  is  either  well  founded  at  first,  or 
thoroughly  reformed  afterwards,  except  the  plan 
be  laid  and  conducted  by  one  man  only.”  But 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


27 


certainly  this  was  not  the  case  with  ours.  The 
people  formed  its  own  commonwealths, — its  ulti¬ 
mate  nation.  "  The  people,”  says  Mr.  Bancroft, 
"was  superior  to  its  institutions,  possessing  the 
vital  force  which  goes  before  organization,  and 
gives  to  it  strength  and  form.”  Under  the  action 
of  this  vital  force  the  principle  of  self-government 
was  nurtured,  and  for  the  space  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  the  work  went  on  quietly,  almost 
imperceptibly,  until  there  appeared  before  the 
statesmen  of  the  Old  World  a  new  claimant  for 
national  recognition  and  honors.  Surely  the  eye 
that  can  see  no  indication  of  a  Divine  Providence 
working  in  such  historical  development,  is  one 
which,  though  it  may  discern  the  face  of  the  sky, 
cannot  discern  the  signs  of  the*  times. 

3.  Passing  now  from  the  infancy  of  the  nation 
to  the  revolutionary  period  of  our  history,  when  it 
reached  its  manhood,  we  find  added  illustration  of 
God’s  hand  in  that  history.  The  Devolution  was 
not  the  result  of  any  causes  or  of  any  spirit  that 
had  suddenly  arisen.  It  was  the  necessary  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  previous  providential  training, — of 
the  moral  and  political  forces  which  had  long  been 
at  work  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  Edmund 
Burke’s  analysis  of  the  probable  causes  of  the 


28 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


Revolution,  given  in  his  masterly  speech  on  ”  Con¬ 
ciliation  with  the  Colonies,"  is  at  once  just  and 
philosophical.  A  love  of  freedom  he  recognized 
as  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  whole 
people.  As  the  descendants  of  Englishmen,  they 
were  "  not  only  devoted  to  liberty,  but  to  liberty 
according  to  English  ideas,”  and  so  were  funda¬ 
mentally  opposed,  with  all  the  force  of  immemo¬ 
rial  tradition,  to  taxation  without  representation. 
Their  popular  form  of  government,  through  pro¬ 
vincial  assemblies,  tended  to  nourish  their  love  of 
liberty;  while,  in  their  education  and  religion, — 
which  latter  he  defines  as  ”  a  refinement  on  the 
principle  of  resistance,  the  dissidence  of  dissent, 
and  the  Protestantism  of  the  Protestant  religion,” 
— he  saw  reasons  why  they  might  be  conciliated, 
but  not  coerced.  But  another  policy  than  that 
which  his  sagacious  statesmanship  recommended, 
was  pursued,  and  the  contest  was  forced  upon  the 
people.  It  must  have  come  sooner  or  later;  but 
the  attempt  to  deprive  the  Colonies  of  their  repre¬ 
sentative  system  hastened  the  event.  The  pas¬ 
sage  of  the  Stamp  Act  and  the  Port  Bill  fell  upon 
the  minds  of  a  spirited  and  jealous  people  as  an 
act  of  oppression  to  be  resisted.  The  presence  of 
bodies  of  armed  men,  instead  of  producing  the 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History.  29 

designed  intimidation,  only  served  to  arouse  the 

spirit  of  the  people,  and  cement  the  Colonies  in  a 

♦ 

common  bond,  for  mutual  support  and  protection. 
I  need  not  stop  to  rehearse  the  story  of  the  up¬ 
rising  and  struggles  of  an  earnest  and  enlightened 
people  for  independence.  Already  the  story  of 
Lexington  and  Concord,  of  Cambridge  and  Breed’s 
Hill,  and  many  other  renowned  scenes,  has  been 
told  in  words  of  eloquence  and  poetry,  and  the 
heroism  and  piety  of  the  fathers  have  been  repro¬ 
duced  for  our  admiring  gratitude,  and  the  stimu¬ 
lation  of  our  patriotic  spirit  and  pride. 

But,  in  looking  over  this  heroic  past,  I  see  the 
hand  of  Cfod;  and  this,  not  only  in  the  shaping  of 
events  and  directing  of  influences,  likely  to  serve 
as  motives  in  the  minds  of  men,  but  in  the  unity 
of  the  people,  and  the  unparalleled  devotion  of  the 
various  Colonies, — scattered  as  they  were  over  a 
large  extent  of  territory,  and  bound  together,  not 
so  much  by  a  common  material  interest,  as  by  a 
common  and  all-pervading  sentiment  of  freedom. 
I  see  that  hand  in  the  men  raised  up  for  the  times. 
He  who  makes  the  times  go  over  us,  has  always 
the  men  ready  to  meet  them.  It  was  so  in  the  era 
of  the  Beformation.  When  the  church,  slumber¬ 
ing  in  her  degeneracy,  needed  a  reawakening,  he 


30 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 


found  a  Luther,  a  Zwingle,  a  Wickliffe,  a  IIuss, — 
men  of  nerve,  not  faultless,  but  men  of  keen  men- 
tal  power  and  comprehensive  grasp,  who  knew 
how  to  seize  the  truth  and  do  the  work  of  their 
day.  It  was  so  in  the  times  of  political  reform 
and  religious  liberty  in  England.  AVhen  the  relig¬ 
ious  idea  was  to  be  wrought  into  the  national 
constitution,  and  the  liberties  of  mankind  were  to 
be  placed  on  their  only  true  and  permanent  basis, 
he  raised  up  men  like  Hampden,  and  Milton,  and 
Cromwell.  So,  for  the  times  of  Republican  prog¬ 
ress, — when  a  new  nation  is  to  come  to  its  man¬ 
hood,  and  new  institutions  are  to  be  confirmed  and 
established, — he  found  an  Otis  and  a  Henry,  the 
impassioned  and  triumphant  defenders  of  popular 
rights;  a  Samuel  and  a  John  Adams,  the  one  with 
his  profound  sagacity  and  untiring  courage,  the 
other  acute  and  impassioned;  a  Thomas  Jefferson 
and  George  Alason,  both  sagacious  and  learned; 
a  Benjamin  Franklin,  astute  and  philosophical;  a 
Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  well  styled  frthe  silver-tongued 
orator  of  freedom  ” ;  a  Robert  Morris,  who,  as  the 
skilful  financier,  rendered  services  which,  though 
differing  in  form,  were  hardly  less  needful  to  the 
success  of  the  cause  than  those  of  Washington 
himself,  who  stands  peerless  among  the  great  and 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 


31 


good  of  all  ages.  In  a  most  emphatic  sense,  Wash¬ 
ington  was  a  man  prepared  by  Providence  for  a 
special  end.  In  the  long  and  dreary  war,  com¬ 
mencing  in  the  spring  of  1775,  and  which  was 
not  closed  for  seven  years,  what  was  wanting  was 
a  permanent  military  chieftain,  who  should  be 
possessed  of  the  rare  qualities  of  patience,  perse¬ 
verance  and  endurance;  and  all  these  qualities 
Washington  had  in  so  very  high  a  degree,  that  it 
may  he  said  with  entire  truth,  that  there  never  was 
his  superior  in  such  endowments.  Calm,  wise, 
incorruptible,  he  was  preeminently  the  man  for 
the  times. 

I  see,  further,  the  hand  of  God  in  his  unmistak¬ 
able  help  in  the  hour  of  conflict.  We  attained  our 
national  independence  against  all  probabilities. 
Often,  in  the  dark  hours  of  the  struggle,  nothing 
saved  the  American  cause  from  entire  destruction 
but  the  divine  interposition.  It  had  its  days  of 
darkness,  suffering,  and  reverses,  when  it  seemed 
as  if  success  were  impossible.  A  country  without 
resources,  an  army  gathered  on  short  enlistments, 
and  without  discipline,  a  Congress  sometimes  tardy 
in  supplying  the  means  of  carrying  on  the  war? 
were  not  the  most  encouraging  conditions  of  suc¬ 
cess.  It  is  matter  of  astonishment,  that  the  spirit 


32 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


of  the  great  leader  did  not  break  down,  and  that 
the  internal  supports  of  his  hope  and  courage  did 
not  give  way.  Bnt  for  the  firm  hold  he  had  upon 
first  and  highest  principles,  and  the  confidence 
that  he  felt  in  God  as  their  defender,  his  spirit 
must  have  sunk  within  him  long  before  the  close 
of  the  war.  Whether  he  himself  recognized  a 
Divine  Providence  as  working  in  the  American 
cause;  whether  he  regarded  his  country’s  success 
as  dependent  upon  that  Providence,  he  would  have 
told  you,  had  you  asked  him,  as  he  came  from  his 
knees  in  the  forest  seclusion,  where  he  was  accus¬ 
tomed  to  bow  in  prayer,  while  passing  that  dark 
winter  at  Valley  Forge.  God  was  as  certainly  in 
the  lives  of  Washington,  and  Lafayette,  and  Ma¬ 
rion,  as  he  was  in  the  lives  of  Moses>  and  Joshua, 
and  Daniel;  he  was  no  more  present  at  Megiddo 
and  Jericho,  than  at  White  Plains  and  Valley 
Forge.  The  battle  was  the  Lord's,  and  it  could 
not  be  lost. 

4.  In  the  growth  and  progress  of  the  interven¬ 
ing  century,  we  discover  the  guiding  and  benefi¬ 
cent  hand  of  God.  The  struggles  of  the  ’Revolu¬ 
tion  past,  the  boon  of  independence  won,  a  new 
epoch  was  to  be  entered  upon,  and  it  was  one  of 
vast  moment.  Failing  here,  all  that  had  gone  be- 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History .  33 

fore  would  go  for  nothing.  It  was  not  enough 
that  the  country  should  become  free  from  the 
domination  of  England:  it  was  necessary  that  it 
should  be  erected  into  a  nation,  and  that  the 
numerous  Colonies  that  had  been  converted  into 
States  should  be  formed  -into  one  Republic.  This 
was  a  solemn  hour  in  our  history.  The  American 
cause  needed  men  of  far-sighted  sagacity,  of  able 
statesmanship ;  it  needed  men  of  incorruptible 
patriotism,  who  would  fill  the  offices  of  govern¬ 
ment,  not  in  the  interest  of  self,  but  of  their  coun¬ 
try, — faithful  at  home,  and  just  abroad.  How 
adequately  God  furnished  the  men,  and  overruled 
all  things  in  the  interests  of  the  nation,  the  history 
of  the  constitutional  era  shows. 

July  21,  1775,  Franklin,  who  twenty  years  be¬ 
fore  had  reported  at  Albany  a  plan  for  the  union 
of  the  Provinces,  submitted  an  outline  for  confed¬ 
erating  the  Colonies  into  one  nation.  His  plan 
was  a  declaration  of  independence,  and  an  effective 
system  of  a  self-perpetuating  republic,  and  con¬ 
tained  the  two  great  elements  of  American  politi¬ 
cal  life, — the  domestic  power  of  the  several  States, 
and  the  limited  sovereignty  of  the  central  govern¬ 
ment.  His  proposition  was,  however,  for  the  time, 
put  aside.  Two  years  later,  certain  articles  of 


5 


34 


The  Hand  of  God.  in  American  History. 


confederation  were  adopted,  forming,  during  the 
progress  of  the  war,  all  the  constitutional  govern¬ 
ment  that  was  requisite.  The  war  being  closed, 
the  new  condition  of  the  country  demanded  a 
greater  centralization  of  power,  and  a  more  effi¬ 
cient  method  of  governmental  action.  The  old 
articles  of  confederation  were  thrown  aside,  and 
our  present  Constitution,  originally  framed  by 
Governeur  Morris,  was  submitted  to  the  Conti¬ 
nental  Congress  in  1787,  and  copies  were  sent  to 
the  several  States  for  ratification.  Coming  in  con¬ 
tact  with  extreme  doctrines  of  state  sovereignty,  it 
was  violently  opposed.  There  were  needed  minds 
who  could  vindicate  and  support  it.  Such  men  as 
Madison,  Hamilton,  and  Jay  meet  the  crisis.  The 
result  of  their  efforts  was  put  forth  in  the  "  Feder¬ 
alist/1  consisting  of  a  series  of  political  papers,  so 
fundamental  in  their  principles,  so  clear  in  their 
reasoning,  and  so  masterly  in  their  conception, 
that  European  statesmen  have  acknowledged  their 
extraordinary  value.  To  these  men  and  their 
writings,  the  country  is  indebted,  under  God,  in 

no  small  degree,  for  the  ratification  of  the  Consti- 

% 

tution  by  the  people  of  the  several  States, — a 
Constitution  which,  in  its  general  features,  might 
be  the  glory  of  any  people;  which  guarantees 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


35 


protection  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  irre¬ 
spective  of  origin,  race,  or  religion;  which  adjusts 
itself  readily  to  the  exigencies  of  a  heterogeneous 
population,  spreading  over  an  immense  continent; 
which  summarily  and  forever  disposes  of  the  vexed 
question  of  the  relations  of  Church  and  State ;  and 
which  provides  for  its  own  amendment  by  legal 
process, — a  Constitution  embodying  the  expressed 
preferences  of  the  people,  with  not  a  place  in  it  for 
arbitrary  power  to  hurt  the  hair  of  the  head  of  the 
humblest  citizen,  and  binding  the  people  of  the 
several  States  together  in  a  union  as  indissoluble 
as  it  is  gentle  and  beneficent. 

The  Constitution  ratified,  the  offices  of  the  exec¬ 
utive  were  to  be  filled,  and  the  men  fitted  for  them 
were  not  wanting,  as  the  first  constitutional  cabinet 
shows.  The  national  credit  was  sunk  to  its  lowest 
depths,  borne  down  by  the  millstone  of  a  ponder¬ 
ous  debt.  Alexander  Hamilton  was  called  to  the 
task  of  raising  it.  A  national  judiciary  was  to  be 
appointed,  and  that  clear-minded  jurist,  John  Jay, 
came  to  the  bench  as  the  first  chief  justice.  Our 
youthful  Republic  had  been,  and  was  to  be,  repre¬ 
sented  in  the  courts  of  the  Old  World,  and  there 
were  such  men  as  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Pinckney, 
Livingston,  and  Adams,  with  others  of  like  char- 


36 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


acter,  to  do  it.  While  we  may  not  affirm  that 
demagogism  has  had  no  part  in  our  national  affairs, 
nor  that  political  corruption  has  never  appeared  in 
the  tactics  of  partyism,  yet,  so  far,  our  American 
Congress  has  never  been  without  men  whose  abili¬ 
ties  have  dignified  its  councils,  and  whose  patri¬ 
otism  has  prompted  them  to  guard  the  national 
honor,  and  see  that  the  Republic  should  receive 
no  harm.  Under  their  successive  leadership,  the 
institutions  of  our  country  grew  and  strengthened 
themselves.  Our  material  statistics  soon  dazzled 
the  world.  Europe  gazed,  no  longer  to  sneer,  but 
in  wonder  to  wait  and  watch  what  the  issue  might 
be.  Our  population  doubled  every  fifteen  years, 
and  our  wealth  every  ten  years.  Our  farms  be¬ 
came  the  granary  of  other  lands.  Our  commerce 
grew  until  American  sails  whitened  every  harbor 
of  the  world.  Our  cotton-fields  were  making 
England  rich.  Our  busy  enterprise  was  sweeping 
the  continent,  advancing  beyond  the  Alleghanies, 
seizing  and  settling  the  prairies  of  the  West,  and 
still  braving  the  wilderness,  reached  onward  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  To  the  great  body  of  the 
people,  the  government  was  felt  to  be  a  hand  of 
protection  and  blessing;  while  this  youngest  among 
the  nations  was  exerting  a  salutary  influence  on 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History.  37 

the  social  and  political  movements  of  the  civilized 
world. 

But  there  was  one  evil  that  tarnished  the  glory 
of  our  national  life,  and  threatened  its  existence. 
African  bondage  was  the  enigma  alike  of  our 
home  and  foreign  policy;  of  our  diplomacy  and 
of  our  ethics.  Our  fathers  regarded  it  as  a  thing 
to  be  regretted,  but  supposed  it  exceptional,  and 
hoped  it  would  prove  ephemeral.  By  a  studied 
circumlocution,  they  avoided  the  explicit  recogni¬ 
tion  of  it  in  the  Constitution;  yet  it  had  there,  by 
implication,  its  designed  safe-guards, — shelved  and 
curtained  for,  as  it  was  hoped,  a  slow  and  quiet, 
but  sure  decay.  Some,  more  far-sighted,  feared 
the  result  of  the  compromise.  Jefferson  and 
Madison  uttered  words  of  warning,  still  hoping 
for  the  best.  Time  passed  on;  but  instead  of  its 
diminution  and  decay,  there  was  an  increase  of  the 
evil,  until  it  precipitated  upon  the  country  the 
bloodshed  and  horrors  of  the  civil  Avar. 

The  anti-slavery  struggle  in  our  country  must 
eArer  stand  alone  in  history  AATith  the  noble  men 
it  ma^le,  the  loftiness  of  personal  character  it 
revealed,  the  moral  forces  it  eA^oked,  the  pro¬ 
found  moral  convictions,  sublime  devotion,  self- 
sacrifice  and  moral  heroism  it  developed,  as  also 


38 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


those  religious  and  political  revolutions  to  which 
it  led.  It  was  one  of  the  marked  providential 
epochs  in  our  history.  In  no  period  of  that  his¬ 
tory  is  the  leading  hand  or  the  inspiring  wisdom 
of  God  more  strikingly  manifest.  The  final  ca¬ 
tastrophe  which  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the 
monstrous  iniquity  was  involved  in  the  elements 
that  had  wrought  in  our  history  from  the  land¬ 
ing  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Cavaliers.  X or  can  we 
separate  our  last  war  from  the  first.  Dissimilar 
in  the  scale  of  their  operations,  in  the  tramp  of 
mustered  hosts,  and  still  more  so  in  the  ideas 
involved,  yet,  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect, 
the  first  was  the  natural  precursor  and  herald 
of  the  other.  The  first  was  for  national  inde¬ 
pendence,  the  second  was  to  make  the  Republic 
one  and  indivisible,  on  the  indestructible  founda¬ 
tions  of  liberty  and  equality.  The  second  was 
to  redeem  the  promise  of  the  first,  and  to  uphold 
the  pledges  and  the  promises  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  Long  and  trying  was  the  work 
of  purification  and  redemption.  An  evil  so  sub- 
tilely  wrought  into  the  social  and  political  struct¬ 
ure,  was  not  to  be  so  easily  overthrown.  But 
God  gave  us  the  men  for  the  hour  and  its  work. 
^Nor  did  the  War  of  Independence  raise  up 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


39 


grander  men,  the  Father  of  his  Country  excepted, 
than  were  raised  up  for  this  moral  war  for  uni¬ 
versal  freedom.  Recall  their  names  and  memory: 
John  Quincy  Adams,  the  martyr  Lovejoy,  Charles 
G.  Torrey,  Gerritt  Smith,  and  Arthur  Tappan, 
who  was  ready  to  sell  his  wares,  but  not  his  prin¬ 
ciples;  James  S.  Birney,  first  presidential  candi¬ 
date  of  the  old  liberty  party;  Salmon  P.  Chase 
and  Benjamin  Wade,  Secretary  Seward  and 
Charles  Sumner,  Governor  Andrew  and  the  mar¬ 
tyr  President,  Abraham  Lincoln,  preserver  of  his 
country,  as  Washington  was  its  father,  and  the 
ecpial  of  any  of  them  in  moral  worth  and  sturdy 
work;  the  historian  of  the  contest,  as  he  was  also 
one  of  its  principal  figures,  Henry  Wilson,  the 
incorruptible  statesman  and  the  true  Christian 
philanthropist.  These,  with  many  others,  some 
still  living,  were  men  worthy  any  age  and  any 
land.  Men  were  they  of  the  thoroughly  Puritan 

type.  Not  ambition,  not  revenge,  not  a  spirit  of 

% 

fanaticism,  nor  of  a  blind  unreasoning  enthusiasm, 
but  stern,  uncompromising  moral  convictions,  an 
unconquerable  love  of  justice  and  of  liberty, 
wrought  in  their  whole  character  and  shaped  their 
lives.  They  were  men  full  of  the  martyr  quali¬ 
ties.  Their  lofty  courage  never  was  surpassed. 


40 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


The  hiding  of  their  power  was  in  God.  In  the 
earlier  phase  of  the  contest  in  Congress,  over  the 
right  of  petition,  "  the  old  man  eloquent,'1  who 
had  come  down  from  the  presidential  chair  to 
serve  the  people  as  their  faithful  tribune,  was 
daily  threatened  by  the  same  class  of  assassins 
who  afterwards  assaulted  our  noble  Sumner,  and 
when  asked  by  a  sympathizing  Quakeress  as  to 
the  source  of  his  strength,  his  reply  was,  it  was 
gotten  of  God.  What  was  true  of  Adams  was 
substantially  true  of  each  of  the  leaders  and 
actors  in  this  great  conflict.  They  drew  their 
inspiration  from  the  Everlasting  Hills,  up  to  which 
they  daily  lifted  their  eyes.  Indeed,  one  fact  is 
specially  noteworthy  here  :  as  the  contest  put  on 
proportions  beyond  the  measure  of  human  wisdom 
to  guide,  or  human  power  to  control,  our  martyr 
President  found  support  in  his  own  and  the 
people's  prayers,  for  the  nation  was  then  glad  to 
recognize  God  as  its  trust,  and  flee  to  him  for 
help. 

A  or  was  the  trust  or  appeal  in  vain.  Long 
and  severe  was  the  final  contest;  but  according 
to  His  promise  whose  word  was  never  broken, 
the  work  of  righteousness  was  peace.  The  mo¬ 
ment  every  bond  was  broken  Heaven  smiled,  we 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


41 


won  the  sympathy  of  the  world,  and  victory 
perched  upon  our  banners.  Premature  rejoicings 
were  heard  across  the  sea,  that  Republican  insti¬ 
tutions  had  failed,  signally  and  disastrously.  So 
far  from  this,  through  an  overruling  Providence, 
they  have  drawn  lustre  from  the  reproach  and 
strength  from  the  trial  which  the  short-sighted¬ 
ness  of  their  founders  entailed  upon  them.  The 
people  proved  that  they  were  inspired  with  the 
energy  of  an  indestructible  life,  by  their  uprising 
in  the  majesty  of  an  undivided  conviction,  con- 
centrated  power  and  determined  purpose;  by  their 
unrepining  submission  to  suffering  and  privation; 
by  their  sublime  patience  under  strange  defeats 
and  wearying  delays,  and  by  their  heroism  in  the 
field  of  battle.  For  it  was  no  hireling  soldiery 
fought  our  battle  of  freedom,  but  the  people 
themselves,  among  whom  were  not  less  than  one  * 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  thousand  in  both  army 
and  navy  of  our  own  brothers  and  sons,  twelve 
thousand  nine  hundred  of  whom  sleep  in  a  sol¬ 
dier’s  honored  grave.  More  was  done  through 
this  sharp  blast  of  adversity  to  confirm  faith  in 
our  institutions  than  could  have  been  accomplished 
under  any  other  circumstances.  Besides,  by  this 
very  episode  in  our  history,  the  difference  has 


6 


42 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


been  made  palpable  between  revolutions  which 
are  prompted  by  that  which  is  merely  local  and 
sectional,  and  by  a  purpose  to  extend  and  per¬ 
petuate  an  acknowledged  evil,  instead  of  remov¬ 
ing  it,  and  such  a  revolution  as  we  have  during 
these  later  months  been  commemorating, — a  revo¬ 
lution  that  aimed  only  at  the  redress  of  wrongs 
and  the  increase  of  human  happiness. 

Looking,  now,  at  our  present  standing  as  a 
nation,  we  have  every  reason  to  recognize  and 
own  the  hand  of  our  God.  The  future  chronicler 
of  events,  as  he  looks  down  on  the  unrolled  scroll 
of  time,  will  write  down  the  period  in  which  we 
live  as  part  of  the  marvellous  century  in  human 
story.  The  interest  in  history  deepens  as  time 
advances,  for  it  becomes  more  and  more  the  record 
of  intellectual  and  moral  progress,  of  the  advan¬ 
cing  liberty  and  happiness  of  mankind.  This  is 
preeminently  so  with  our  history.  It  is  the  story 
of  a  wonderful  growth.  It  is  in  no  spirit  of 
empty  boasting  or  vain-glory  I  speak  of  what  we 
are,  and  what  we  enjoy  as  a  people;  for  not  by 
the  might  of  our  power,  or  the  wisdom  of  our 
counsel,  has  this  nation  been  built,  or  its  resources 
developed.  Has  there  been  wisdom  in  our  coun¬ 
sels?  It  was  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty. 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


43 


Has  wealth  increased?  God  gave  us  power  to 
get  wealth.  Has  freedom  gained  new  victories? 
He  led  us  in  the  ways  of  righteousness  for  his 
own  name’s  sake.  "  He  hath  not  dealt  so  with 
any  nation.” 

Consider  the  growth  of  the  country  thus  divine¬ 
ly  ushered  into  existence  and  organized  under  the 
Constitution  into  a  nation.  The  thirteen  Colonies 
that  accomplished  the  Revolution  have  multiplied 
into  thirty-seven  independent  States,  a  single  one 
of  them  exceeding  in  population  the  original  thir¬ 
teen.  The  narrow  border  settlement  along  the 
coast,  fenced  in  by  France  and  the  native  tribes, 
has  expanded  to  the  dimensions  of  a  continent. 
Arizona,  Colorado,  Dakota,  Indian  Territory, 
Montana,  F!"ew  Mexico,  Washington, — territories 
equal  to  the  great  monarchies  of  Europe, — with 
four  smaller  ones,  have  been  added  to  the  Union; 
and  the  two  millions  and  a  half  of  population 
which  fired  the  imagination  of  Burke  have  swollen 
to  the  number  of  forty  millions.  Then,  our  coun¬ 
try  was  one  of  the  poorest  of  the  world;  now,  its 
resources  are  characterized  by  an  English  statis¬ 
tical  work  as  enormous.  Within  this  wide  domain 
there  has  been  developed  an  almost  incredible 
mineral  wealth.  Of  coal,  our  production  was 


44 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


small;  now,  millions  of  tons  are  mined  annually. 
Of  iron,  which  formed  scarcely  an  appreciable 
part  of  our  productions  half  a  century  ago,  we 
now  produce  more  than  the  world  consumed  at 
the  beginning  of  our  national  existence,  while  the 
development  of  gold  and  silver  mines  has  not 
only  been  remarkable,  but  has  had  a  great  influ¬ 
ence  on  the  business  of  all  commercial  nations. 
At  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  manufactories  were 
few  in  number;  in  1870  more  than  two  million 
persons  were  employed  in  the  various  manufact¬ 
uring  pursuits,  producing  more  than  two  thou¬ 
sand  one  hundred  millions  of  products.  Our 
mercantile  marine  is  larger  than  that  of  any  other 
nation  save  Great  Britain.  In  1874,  we  imported 
goods  to  the  value  of  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
millions,  while  our  exports  were  five  hundred  and 
eighty-six  millions.  In  the  same  year  we  exported 
seventy-one  million  bushels  of  wheat,  which  was 
less  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  amount  raised 
in  the  country.  The  total  amount  of  all  agricult¬ 
ural  products  for  the  year  was  two  thousand  four 
hundred  and  forty-eight  millions.  But  this  is  not 

all;  as  if  to  facilitate  our  efforts  in  subduing  and 

• 

utilizing  our  extending  domain,  and  advancing 
these  mighty  material  interests,  mark  how  our 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History .  45 

Heavenly  Father  has  timed  the  period  of  this 
growth.  It  is  since  we  came  into  birth  as  a  nation 
that  the  three  great  modern  elements  of  human 
progress  have  been  developed.  Steam  has  become 
our  steed,  and  lightning  our  messenger,  and  gold 
the  magician  that  has  set  them  to  work. 

But  better  than  all  outward  and  material  prog¬ 
ress  have  been  the  firm  rooting  and  beneficent 
growth  of  our  religious  and  political  institutions. 
By  the  blessing  of  God,  we  have  been  enabled 
to  show  that  popular  government,  in  the  pithy 
language  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  ”  a  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people/’  is 
not  only  a  possibility,  but  has  in  it  the  elements 
of  enduring  strength  and  progress.  Severely 
has  this  principle  been  tried,  and  most  triumph¬ 
antly  has  it  stood  the  test.  We  have  accom¬ 
plished  the  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
without  any  serious  detriment  to  either;  nay, 
with  positive  advantage  to  both.  The  State  has 
not  ceased  to  be  Christian  because  freed  from 
all  responsibility  as  to  religious  opinions  and  in¬ 
stitutions.  It  originated  in  the  Christian  religion, 
and  will  continue  to  be  conserved  by  it.  Mr. 
Everett  declares  that  "  all  the  distinctive  features 
and  superiority  of  our  Republican  institutions 


46 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 


are  derived  from  the  teachings  of  Scripture/1 
Rufus  Choate  affirms  "  our  nationality  is,  to  an 
extraordinary  degree,  not  a  growth,  but  a  pro¬ 
duction.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  will  and  reason, 
and  so  depends  upon  the  will  and  reason  for  its 
preservation.”  We  do  not  object  to  this  state¬ 
ment,  only  we  would  affirm  that  it  was  a  changed, 
Christianized,  regenerated  will  and  reason  which 
constructed  our  nationality,  and  that  the  will  and 
reason  which  would  preserve  it  must  be  purely 
and  practically  Christian.  I  care  not  for  any 
formal  constitutional  recognition  of  Christianity; 
indeed,  the  fact  complained  of  in  some  quarters, 
that  there  is  no  such  recognition  in  the  Consti¬ 
tution,  is,  to  my  mind,  proof  of  the  purity  of  the 
religious  spirit  of  its  framers.  The  separation  of 
State  and  Religion  was  the  testimony  of  the 
fathers  to  the  inherent  power  of  the  Christian 
faith,  and  that  it  had  no  need  of  any  political 
bolstering  up.  But  all  this  was  far  from  ignoring 
the  religious  spirit  in  our  national  life;  its  guid¬ 
ing  and  impelling  power  in  the  lives  of  our 
people,  and  its  formative  influence  in  all  their 
institutions  and  laws.  If  ever  there  has  been  a 
people  who  incorporated  the  Bible  into  themselves, 
and  themselves  into  the  Bible, — whose  laws,  cus- 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 


47 


toms,  institutions  and  literature  were  permeated 
by  the  spirit  of  Christianity, — it  lias  been  our 
own,  and  this  while  the  Constitution  expressly 
provides  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law  re¬ 
specting  an  establishment  of  religion.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  some,  it  would  be  made  to  appear  as 
though  there  had  been  a  decrease  of  religious 
growth,  and  a  decadence  of  religious  strength, 
proportionately  with  the  progress  of  the  country. 
But  figures  most  clearly  sliowT  the  enormous 
growth  of  American  Christianity,  as  a  whole, 
and  that  it  has  more  than  kept  pace  with  the 
rapid  strides  of  population.  From  a  careful  esti¬ 
mate,  it  would  appear  that  the  whole  number  of 
religious  organizations  existing  in  the  country  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  was  less  than 
nineteen  hundred  and  fifty.  The  total  population 
was  then  estimated  at  three  and  a  half  millions, 
which  would  show  a  church  for  every  seventeen 
hundred  souls.  By  the  last  census,  the  total 
number  of  church  organizations  is  given  as  more 
than  seventy-two  thousand,  which,  in  a  popula¬ 
tion  of  thirty-eight  millions,  would  show  a  church 
for  every  five  hundred  and  twenty-nine.  In  other 
words,  while  the  population  has  multiplied  eleven¬ 
fold,  the  churches  have  multiplied  thirty-seven- 


48 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


fold.  We  have  no  means  of  subjecting  the 
aggregate  value  of  church  property  to  the  same 
test;  but,  according  to  the  recent  presidential 
message,  the  untaxable  church  property  of  the 
country,  in  1850,  amounted  to  eighty-three  mill¬ 
ions,  which  amount  had  doubled  in  I860,  while, 
in  1875,  he  places  it  at  one  thousand  millions. 
Of  coin  *se,  such  statistics  as  these  are  unsatis¬ 
factory  tests  of  the  real  growth  of  religion,  yet 
must  we  depend,  more  or  less,  on  statistics  as 
our  only  means  of  reaching  general  conclusions; 
and  much  as  we  hear  of  the  decay  of  faith  and 
the  growth  of  the  spirit  of  indifference,  it  seems 
certain,  from  such  a  review,  that  the  positive 
institutions  of  religion  have  not,  during  the  last 
hundred  years,  lost  their  hold  on  the  mass  of 
the  American  people. 

27ext  to  the  growth  of  our  religious  institu¬ 
tions,  is  the  development  of  the  educational 
interests  of  our  country.  The  founders  of  this 
government  were  so  sagacious,  as  to  see  that  the 
permanence  of  free  institutions  depended  on  the 
intelligence  of  the  people;  and  it  has  been  shown, 
by  our  experiment,  that  free  institutions  can  give 
a  wider  education  to  the  people,  than  has  ever 
been  given  by  an  aristocracy  or  a  monarchy. 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History „ 


49 


The  student  of  American  education  may  well  be 
gratified  by  the  wide-spread  diffusion  of  intelli¬ 
gence  throughout  our  country,  and  by  the  readi¬ 
ness  with  which  the  people,  especially  of  the 
Xortli  and  West,  have  been  willing  to  tax  them¬ 
selves  for  the  support  of  common  schools,  and  by 
the  munificent  contributions  from  private  sources 
for  the  purposes  of  higher  education.  lie  may 
rejoice  in  the  testimony  of  observing  foreigners, 
that  the  people  of  this  land,  if  not  the  most 
highly  educated,  are  the  most  generally  educated 
*  in  the  world.  A  recent  French  writer  asserts 
that,  in  the  United  States,  popular  instruction 
comes  nearest  to  its  ideal.  But  much  as  has 
been  done,  we  are  still  in  the  midst  of  the  edu¬ 
cational  problem.  Two  things  we  have  accom¬ 
plished.  We  have  proven  that  we  can  have 
education  without  sectarian  schools,  and  have 
been  able  to  make  education  universal,  by  thus 
making  it  secular,  and  then  free.  But  much 
remains  to  be  done  in  the  development  and  en¬ 
forcement  of  methods.  Of  the  fourteen  millions 
of  our  reported  school  population,  only  eight 
millions  are  actually  enrolled,  and  of  these,  not 
more  than  five  millions  are  in  anything  like 
regular  attendance.  The  questions  assuming  im- 

7 


50 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


portance  in  our  times  are,  How  are  we  to  maintain 
and  perpetuate  such  a  government  as  ours  with¬ 
out  intelligent  electors?  Can  we  depend  on  in¬ 
telligence  without  moral  direction,  or  secure  a 
perfect  moral  direction  without  a  religious  basis? 
The  sovereign  should  be  intelligent.  The  people 
are  sovereigns,  with  questions  of  constantly  in¬ 
creasing  moment  to  decide.  There  must,  then,  be 
a  general  average  intelligence.  There  is  but  one 
conclusion:  the  State  must  educate  its  children,  if 
it  would  preserve  itself  from  harm;  it  owes  a 
duty  to  itself.  It  is  true  the  world  will  never 
outgrow  the  necessity  of  leaders.  There  never 
can  arise  any  conditions  of  society  when  men  of 
original  thought,  of  deep  mental  forecast,  and 
high  scholarly  attainment  will  not  be  needed  to 
lead  the  advance  of  the  race.  Indeed,  what  our 
country  needs  at  this  moment,  is,  that  its  wise 
and  cultured  men,  its  men  of  sterling  character 
and  worth,  no  longer  abstain  from  an  active  par¬ 
ticipation  in  public  affairs,  and  that  our  people 
recognize  their  need  of  such  men  in  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  public  interests.  But  a  few  thinkers 
and  scholars,  sandwiched  in  between  the  great 
unkempt  and  ignorant  mass  of  electors,  can  never 
save  the  nation,  or  conserve  its  true  progress. 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History, 


51 


Intelligence,  however,  is  not  alone  indispensable. 
Knowledge  is  power,  but  it  may  be  power  for 
evil  as  much  as  good;  it  lias  no  moral  quality  in 
itself.  The  greatest  danger  of  the  Kepublic  is  its 
educated,  experienced,  cultivated,  corrupt  dema¬ 
gogues.  Intelligence  without  religion  is  a  danger¬ 
ous  pilot  for  the  ship  of  state.  Eliminate  that 
element;  take  religious  thought,  sentiment,  and 
aspiration  from  the  atmosphere  of  our  education, 
and  men  will  soon  become  animalized,  and  this 
government  sink  beneath  the  green  pool  of  its 
own  corruption.  It  was  an  instinct  of  self-preser¬ 
vation  that  incorporated  in  the  Bill  of  Eights 
that  "  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  are  neces¬ 
sary  to  good  government.”  It  is  our  unsectarian, 
popular  education, — but  an  education  as  yet  un¬ 
divorced  from  the  religious  sentiment  and  spirit, — 
that  has  been  the  source  and  means  of  all  our 
progress  in  the  past,  and  must  continue  to  be 
our  defence  and  hope  in  all  the  future.  Daniel 
"Webster  most  suggestively  said,  w  In  what  age, 
by  what  sect,  where,  when,  and  by  whom,  has 
religious  truth  been  excluded  from  education? 
Nowhere!  Never!  Everywhere,  and  at  all  times, 
it  has  been  regarded  as  essential.  It  is  the 
essence,  the  vitality  of  useful  instruction.”  We 


52 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 


have  reached  an  important  point  in  our  history. 
Xot  as  yet  is  the  experiment  of  self-government 
complete.  We  stand  in  the  presence  of  a  com¬ 
manding  past, — a  past  graciously  secured  to  us. 
Come  what  may,  the  records  of  our  Washington 
and  Hamilton,  our  Adams  and  Ilenry,  our  Jeffer¬ 
son  and  Franklin,  our  Jay  and  Marshall,  our 
Madison  and  Jackson,  our  Webster  and  Clay, 
our  Lincoln,  and  Sumner,  and  Wilson,  cannot  be 
torn  from  the  world's  annals.  Freedom,  educa¬ 
tion,  growing  territory,  commerce,  invention, 
wealth, — how  largely  have  they  been  given  us! 
But  standing  with  this  commanding  past  in  retro¬ 
spect,  w^e  turn  to  confront  a  solemn  future.  "  As 
to  America,”  said  Lord  Macaulay,  ”  I  appeal  to 
the  twentieth  century.”  We  enter  upon  our 
second  century  amid  deepening  responsibilities. 
Xo  thoughtful  man  can  close  his  eyes  to  the 
dangers  which  beset  us,  or  be  unmindful  of  the 
new  issues  constantly  arising,  demanding  for 
their  wise  solution  the  most  unselfish  and  the 
purest  patriotism  with  the  most  enlightened  Christ¬ 
ian  conscientiousness. 

We  need,  in  view  of  our  dangers,  to  temper  our 
enthusiasm  with  sobriety.  We  are  menaced  by  a 
growing  spirit  of  materialism.  The  eagerness  of 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History .  53 

men  after  material  prosperity  tends  to  a  practical 
absorption  in  those  ends.  Thus  we  have  the 
greed,  the  excitement,  the  infatuation,  the  extrav¬ 
agance,  and  the  corruption,  that,  to  so  great  an 
extent,  characterize  our  times.  The  abounding 
iniquity  of  our  day  is  a  just  cause  of  alarm.  While 
we  ought  not  to  forget  nor  undervalue  much  that 
is  noble,  and  true,  and  good,  in  the  present  time, 
nor  regard  the  former  days  as  in  all  respects  better 
than  these,  we  must  admit  that  we  are  living  in  a 
period  of  shameful  prevalent  corruption  and  crime. 
Each  daily  paper  brings  its  fresh  instalment  of 
defalcation,  fraudulent  dealing,  forgery,  robbery, 
and  murder.  On  every  hand  men  are  making 
void  the  law  of  God.  While  there  is  an  advance 
of  truth  and  religion  on  the  one  hand,  there  is  a 
strengthening  of  the  bands  of  wickedness,  and  a 
breaking  away  from  the  restraints  of  law.  Intem¬ 
perance  is  still  sending  its  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  victims  annually  in  this  country  to  a 
drunkard’s  grave  and  a  drunkard’s  doom,  wast¬ 
ing  millions  of  treasure,  and  increasing  pauperism 
and  crime.  No  true  patriot  can  be  found  who  can 
look  with  anything  but  a  feeling  of  sadness  on 
such  a  condition  of  things,  nor  without  earnestly 
desiring  that  the  most  thorough  and  stringent 


54 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History . 


measures  be  employed  for  the  decrease  of  immo¬ 
rality  and  crime,  and  the  increase  of  human  virtue. 
Certainly  it  is  no  time  for  breaking  down  the 
fences  of  law  and  religion,  but  for  their  firmer 
building  and  completer  preservation.  It  is  true 
you  cannot  legislate  evil  out  of  the  world,  but  by 
an  impartial,  rigorous  justice  you  can  make  it  too 
costly  for  practice,  and  by  a  wise  and  Christian 
legislation  you  may  limit  its  reach  and  remove  its 
temptations ;  and  for  this,  in  its  most  perfect  meas¬ 
ure,  and  to  our  utmost  ability,  the  God  of  right¬ 
eousness  holds  every  man  responsible.  But,  alas! 
not  the  least  evil  of  our  times  is  the  increasing 
corruption  in  the  officers  of  government,  both  na-- 
tional  and  local.  Scarcely  a  week  passes  that  we 
are  not  shamed  by  the  greed  and  faithlessness  of 
some  one  in  high  position.  If  to-day  there  be 
reason  for  any  concern,  it  is  not  so  much  because 
of  any  loss  of  hereditary  talent,  or  eloquence,  or 
shrewd  intelligence,  but  because  of  the  decay,  in 
too  many  places,  of  the  old  ancestral  integrity, 
disinterestedness,  and  magnanimity.  "What  our 
country  needs  in  its  leaders  and  legislators  are  the 
purest  Christian  principles,  the  loftiest  personal 
character,  the  highest  and  most  unselfish  political 
aims;  that  they  be  men  whom  no  gold  can  buy,  no 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History .  55 

adulation  of  the  people  can  mislead,  and  no  spirit 
of  ambition  can  pervert.  Such  men  as  these,  as 
our  history  proves,  and  as  the  scenes  of  the  past 
few  weeks  illustrate, — as  a  weeping  nation  has 
united  in  honoring  the  name  and  reverencing  the 
virtues  of  a  man  having,  it  may  be,  little  graceful¬ 
ness  of  speech  or  bearing,  but  with  a  great  talent 
for  serving  his  generation  and  doing  hard  work 
for  the  public  good;  a  man  honestly  ambitious; 
whose  industry  was  such  as  to  raise  him  to  the 
second  office  in  the  land  without  one  dishonest 
act;  one  at  heart  sound  and  true;  the  lover  of  his 
kind,  "who  feared  God  and  eschewed  evil,”  — 
such  men  the  people  will  honor  and  enshrine  in 
their  most  grateful  remembrance  and  affection. 

In  referring  to  the  evils  of  our  times,  we  have 
not  spoken  despondently;  for  there  is  no  evil  which 
a  true  Christian  fidelity,  and  a  wise  and  sagacious 
patriotism,  and  a  pure  political  action,  cannot 
lessen  or  remove.  If,  in  the  present  season  of 
difficulty  and  depression,  any  mind  has  yielded  to 
despondency  as  to  our  future,  it  needs  only  to  be 
remembered,  as  a  check  to  this  hasty  despair,  how 
much  of  misrule  and  mischief  every  great  nation 
has  had  to  survive.  There  never  has  been  an 
auspicious  day  for  humanity  that  was  not  one  of 


56 


The  Hand  of  Cod  in  American  History , 


doubt  and  conflict.  Great  evils  have  alwa}T8  con¬ 
fronted  the  world's  earnest  workers.  Indeed,  the 
intense  light  that  they  have  flashed  on  them,  has 
tended  to  reveal  them  with  greater  clearness. 
The  world  does  not  move  backward,  neither  is  it 
stationary.  Men  may  leave  their  work  incomplete, 
but  the  work  of  God  goes  on  to  perfection.  What 
trials  of  our  faith  in  principles,  what  delays,  nay, 
even  what  momentary  reverses  may  be  before  us, 
none  may  foresee;  but  our  trust  is  in  God,  whose 
purposes  never  fail.  Generations  may  come  and 
go  individuals  may  die,  the  great  and  the  mighty, 
men  wise  in  council  and  reverend  in  goodness, 
may  pass  away,  but  God's  work  in  the  regenera¬ 
tion  of  the  race  will  go  on.  There  will  be  vicissi¬ 
tude  and  change,  the  conflict  between  good  and 
evil  will  deepen,  the  questions  engrossing  the 
thought  of  to-day  will  find  their  solution,  and  give 
place  to  the  more  absorbing  questions  of  the  fu¬ 
ture;  but  the  country  will  live,  its  institutions 
perfected  and  perpetuated  by  the  enlightened  de¬ 
votion  and  patriotism  of  the  people,  till  our  letters 
and  our  arts,  our  schools  and  our  churches,  our 
laws  and  our  liberties,  shall  be  carried  from  the 
arctic  circle  to  the  tropics,  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun  to  the  going  down  thereof. 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


57 


May  it  please  ^  our  Excellency,  Governor  of* 
Massachusetts,  Your  Honor,  Lieutenant-Governor, 
the  Honorable  Council,  the  Honorable  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  to  receive  our  respect¬ 
ful  salutations.  You  have  the  right  to  regard  it 
as  a  distinction  and  a  privilege  that  you  have  been 
called  to  serve  the  State  in  this  historic  period. 
The  interests  of  a  citizen,  as  well  as  the  sentiments 
of  a  preacher,  have  led  me  to  speak  of  the  provi¬ 
dence  of  God  in  our  history, — a  history  as  won¬ 
derful  as  it  is  unique.  With  the  Psalmist,  we  can 
say,  f<*  He  hath  not  dealt  so  with  any  people.’’  It 
will  be  in  accordance,  I  doubt  not,  with  your  own 
religious  convictions,  to  recognize  that  to  him 
belongs  all  the  glory  of  our  present  greatness  and 
prosperity;  and  that  from  him  must  come  all  the 
wisdom  to  guide  and  the  power  to  advance  our 
well-being  and  growth  in  the  future.  Whatever 
is  noble  in  the  character  of  our  people,  or  heroic 
in  the  annals  of  our  history,  is  deeply  grounded  in 
their  constant  recognition  of  a  Divine  Providence 
in  human  affairs,  and  the  immutability  of  moral 
law, — the  one  the  object  of  their  daily  trust,  the 
other  the  inspiration  and  rule  of  their  daily  life. 
May  it  be  yours,  ever  realizing  the  presence  and 
blessing  of  our  fathers’  God,  to  emulate  their 


8 


58 


The  Hand  of  God  in  American  History. 


spirit,  and  to  reproduce,  with  added  lustre,  their 
character,  as  you  shall  aim  to  preserve,  and,  as  far 
as  in  you  lies,  to  give  perfection  to  their  work. 
Bringing  to  the  duties  before  you,  bearing  not 
only  on  the  material,  but  the  moral  weal  of  the 
State,  your  ripest  wisdom,  your  purest,  most  un¬ 
selfish  motive,  and  your  most  enlightened  patri¬ 
otism,  and  in  all  that  may  claim  your  attention, 
consulting  only  the  mandates  of  righteousness, 
and  legislating  accordingly,  you  will  secure  the 
blessings  of  a  grateful  people,  as  you  now  have 
their  prayers. 

"  The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with 
our  fathers;  let  him  not  leave  us  nor  forsake  us.” 


' 

- 

'  ,~-x  zi'iK  .  •--  w ■■*.>-,,  K  t  •; 


